Film· 1996· Romance

Romeo + Juliet

by Baz Luhrmann

Romeo + Juliet: it draws on 1 recorded source.

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What influenced Romeo + Juliet

The works this one is recorded as drawing on.

Romeo and Juliet

Play · 1590

AdaptationHIGH

Luhrmann's film keeps Shakespeare's text and moves everything else. The dialogue is the play's, largely uncut in the scenes it keeps; the setting is Verona Beach, a contemporary Latin American coastal city of gang war, television news and Catholic iconography. The translation is worked through to the props: the swords are handguns with SWORD stamped on them as a brand name, so the word can stay in the dialogue. The Chorus becomes a news anchor. It is the clearest modern demonstration that the verse survives outside its period setting.

About the work

Romeo + Juliet

It is a modernized adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name, albeit still using Shakespearean English. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the title roles of two teenagers who fall in love, despite their being members of feuding families. Brian Dennehy, John Leguizamo, Miriam Margolyes, Harold Perrineau, Pete Postlethwaite, Paul Sorvino and Diane Venora also star in supporting roles. It is the third major film version of the play, following adaptations by George Cukor in 1936 and by Franco Zeffirelli in 1968.